Conditioning machine for absorptive sheet materials



June 22, 1937. SJOSTROM 2,084,459

CONDITIONING I7IACHINE FOR ABSORPTIVE SHEET MAT ERIALS I Filed March 7, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 22, 1937. R. L. SJOSTROM 2,084,459

CONDITIONING MACHINE FOR ABSORPTIVE SHEET MATERIALS dworzreg June 22, 1937. R. L. SJOSTROM 2,084,459

CONDITIONING MACHINE FOR ABSORPTIVE SHEET MATERIALS Filed March 7, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 99\ ffi 86 I I; 5- 5 ,E 88

0 76 i 70 F r 92 137 vezztow June 22, 1937. SJQSTRQM 2,084,459

CONDITIONING MACHINE FOR ABSORPTIVE SHEET MATERIALS Filed March 7, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented June 22, 1937 UNITED STATES CONDITIONING MACHINE FOR ABSORPTIVE SHEET MATERIALS Robert L. Sjostrom, West Boxford, Mass.

Application March 7, 1936, Serial No. 67,631

7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in conditioning machines for absorptive sheet materials.

More especially it has a principal utility for adding moisture to textile fabric, of any variety, as after a drastic reduction by drying or hot pressing, for re-gain to a normal or desired moisture content of the finished cloth. But the machines may be employed with like beneficial results in the paper industry, and in related arts, where the material is sufiiciently absorbent to take moisture into itself, through the atmosphere, from an abundant liquid supply which the machine maintains effectively near but not'in contact with the material.

The present invention employs and improves upon the principle of operation which has characterized prior machines made for similar purposes, in that the spread sheet of material is made to travel close to vertical sheets of water, through a long course, guided by rollers at staggered upper and lower locations. The upper rollers are mutually parallel and equi-distant at a high level; and the lower rollers are the same at a low level; and the sheet thus passes through a succession of vertical runs under a low roller,

' up over a high roller, down under a low roller,

and so on until it leaves the machine.

Although herein illustratively described only with reference to regain of humidity'in cloth, the machine is useful for conditioning long sheets other than cloth, and by applying vapors of liquids other than water.

Heretofore, to supply the moisture, wet aprons have travelled up and down, each from a reservoir of water below one of the spaces between two of the low rollers, thus extending vertically in a space between two vertical stretches of the material; so that the under side of the cloth ran close to a series of wet aprons.

A later development proposed substituting stationary slabs of wood or cement or other impervious material, and set them above the cloth as well as below, the slabs being made with nonporous surfaces with expectation that water released at the top would flow down in films, one film down each face of the slab. Needed uniformity has not been attained. A low efficiency of machine, resulting in deficiency of regain, has been experienced, because on either or both sides of the slab the water supplied at the top tends to course downward in rivulets, leaving dry areas of slab intervening-even when a considerable excess of water is used. This ill effect is the more pronounced if the slab happens to depart ever so slightly from a strict verticality of setting, or from having its'face be a perfect plane. Also, the flow down the two surfaces of a slab will be unequal because of an unequal dividing of the stream supplied to the top edge of the slab.

. Also, in the wetted slab machines, there have been failures to satisfactorily mount the slab elements relative to their respective supplies of water, and to each otheraand failures to handle adequately and effectively the unevaporated water which wastes from the lower edges of the slabs,-and this is especially objectionable in case of those alternate slabs which are over the lower roller-bends in the cloth.

The invention improves on this by providing a single sheet of water in each vertical space between stretches of cloth. That single water sheet has two surfaces, each fully exposed for evaporation, with area, close by the cloth, approximately equalling the exposed area of cloth surface.

To attain this, a metallic wire mesh screen or the like perforate or pervious element may constitute a supporting core for each single downflowing sheet of water, each core element preferably having its upper edge portion fed by a waterspray pipe. The spray streams, after landing on the screen, spread laterally over the screen, and pass readily through the interstices of screen, so that they coalesce on and are exposed over the .whole of both surfaces of the screen, whence moisture passes abundantly into the narrow bodies of atmosphere which lie between its two faces and the cloth; to be thence drawn by the avid dryness of the cloth. The unevaporated water drips directly into a suitable collecting pan below, or into a transverse trough which leads'to the collecting pan, Re-circulation of this water may be induced by a suitable pump and piping system if desired.

In another and further improved embodiment of the invention the screen core support for the down-flowing sheet of water may be a woven fabric screen having capillary material so that it both can pass the water freely from either side of the screen to keep the other wet to capacity, and can spread the water quickly laterally over all the surface, and can absorbently retain substantial amounts of moisture with an enlarged evaporating area, due to the added surfaces of threads and fibre.

One consequence of the invention is that the evaporative supply may be maintained with complete coverage and enlarged water surfaces, with even a less amount of water than has heretofore been required for the inadequately maintained films on opposite surfaces of a non-porous slab. Hence the machine as a'whole can be much smaller'and more compact than prior machines of like capacity; and it can attain the improved eflicie'n'cy'without the usual enclosing casing.

The invention also safeguards the cloth from spatters of supply water jets impinging on a slab, by causing each such jet to be encased within a closed loop of the screen material, through the walls of which the water flows outto the main body of screen.

Also the invention safeguards the cloth from condensation of moisture on the exterior walls of the collecting troughs, for cases where these may occur, by coating those exterior walls with a sheet of fibrous fabric. r

A proper relative positioning of these cooperating elements is assured by each trough being suspended on the particular screen whose drip it catches.

The water flow to the screens may be made continuously uniform, through orifices along the screen-supply pipes, by a system which provides a uniform low head assured by an open overflow pipe set a very few inches above thoseorifices. By providing 'a glass window for the wall beside this overflow, the main supply valve of water control can be adjusted for inflow equalling or slightly exceeding outflow; while if a pump and piping for re-circulating water from the bottom pan be employed the result of the adjusted inflow will be approximately to supply only the amount of water actually used in evaporation.

In the accompanying drawings: 7

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a' conditioning machine embodying features of the invention, portions being broken away for clearness;

Figure 2 is an end elevation looking from the right in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a top p an of themachine as shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective of a top corner fragment of one of the water guides of Figure 1, in the form of a woven. wire screen, with an associated fragment of spray pipe;

Figure 5 is an elevation, in section on 5--5 of Figure 4, on an enlarged scale;

Figure 6 is a detail fragmentary elevation of one of the mounting devices for the screens of Figure 1; V

Figure '7 is an elevation in section on l-''! of Figure 2, showing a drip trough mounted on the lower edge of a screen;

"Figure 8 is an elevation, with parts broken away; showing what I now consider to be a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Figure 9 is a plan of Figure 8, with part broken away;

Figure 10 is a perspective of one of the mesh water-core elements of Figure 8, showing its suspension support on a spray pipe, and showing a trough suspended from and beneath the element;

Figure 11 is an elevation, in section on ll'll of Figure 10. V

Figure 12 is a face view of a fragment of fabric screen woven with multiple loops of the material at each face, for increasing the absorbtive capacity of the screen, the threads and, weave being exaggerated by enlargementof dimensions; v Figure 1 3 is an elevation in section on |3,I3

of Figure 12;. V

Figure 14 is a face view of afragment of still another woven screen whose threads are of highly capillary material, and in which each thread is reenforced by a finewire.

' Referring to the drawings, my improved evaporative sheets of water may be provided Within a suitable machine frame which, preferably, will be i of inexpensive channel iron construction, and As represented in Figures 1-3,

open on all sides. 7 the frame comprises four corner uprights l0 connected together'by the cross-bars l2, [4, at a 7 high location, and. by the low cross-bars I6, [8.

Additional cross-bars 20 may be provided at a mid-location on the uprights.

Cloth-guiding rollers 22 of an upper series are site a space between upper rollers 22.

it passes underthe exit roller 30 and out.

I6, arranged for each lower roller 26 to be oppo- A roller 28 at the entrance end of the frame guides the cloth to the series of rollers; and a roller 30 at the exit side guides the outcoming cloth.

The sheet material which is to undergo treatment, herein for illustration assumed to be cloth,

is indicated by the dot and dash line A,'passing the first roller 22 of the upper series, back down to the second roller 26, and so on,-up and down between the staggered rollers 22, 26 until finally The eight rollers which are represented as illustrating each series provide fifteen full vertical, parallel and equidistant stretches of the material. Alternate ones 32 of these spaces, closed by rollers 22 at their upper ends, are open between-and past the lower rollers 26; and alternate ones 34 of the spaces, closed by rollers 26 at their lower ends, are open between and past the upper rollers 22.

According to the invention, a stationary, thin, water-pervious core and guide for a down-flowing sheet of water is mounted in each of the spaces 3 each such guide reaching across the machine and extending from near top to near bottom, with area approximately equal to the area of sheet A; and each screen stands equiI-distant' from its two adjacent stretchesiof sheet A.

The screens 36, mounted in any desired'and suitable manner, are stationary in their respective spaces 32, 34; I represent them as being supported on the frame of the machine by means of lugs 38, on each, for engaging, at opposite sides, a cross-support 40. For fixing the location of the screens along the cross-supports 40, the latter may be provided with recesses 42 spacedati de- In Figures 1-7 they are fine mesh,

sired intervals, and each lug 38 may have a portion 44 for engaging in a said recess. In the case of the "high suspension mounting of screens, it may be desirable to have lugs 46, positioned lower,

for reaching in to restrain any tendency of a screen-to swing sidewise from its desired middle position of approximate parallelism with the adjacent stretches of sheet A. r a

The water distributing and circulating system of Figures 1-3 includes a pump 48, which may draw from any convenient source, for continuously supplying water through riser 50 to a series of spray pipes *52. Riser 50" feeds thetwo manifolds 54, 56 at the top of the machine, one at each side; and the spray pipes 52 extend across the top of the machine, from manifold to manifold. But alternate ones of the spray pipes comprise a high series, for depositing water on the higher screens 36; and the remainder comprise a lower series for depositing water on the lower screens 36. Each spray pipe extends along the upper edge of its associated screen, slightly spaced therefrom; each being set and adapted to deposit water in gentle streams distributed at suitable intervals throughout the full extent across the machine of said upper edge of screen. Thence the water forms itself over the screen' as a sheet which is continuous horizontally and vertically on both sides of the screen, the screen serving as a water-pervious guiding core.

The areas of two-surfaced water thus provided, one being in each space 32, 34, constitute slow flowing supplies on each side of each stretch of sheet A, from which the intervening atmosphere may absorb, and simultaneously deliver to the cloth, whatever moisture each stretch of cloth will accept in order to re-gain the desired content.

The water sheets which originate below an upper roller 22 in the spaces 32 extend down between and past lower rollers 26, so that water dripping from the lower edges of their core screens is clear of a cloth A, and can be collected in a suitable pan 58 below. The water sheets which originate higher are in spaces 34, which are closed below by rollers and cloth. To collect their dripping water and to guide it safely clear of the sheet material A, and down into the collecting pan 53, I show a trough 51 mounted on each screen 35 which is in one of the spaces 34.

This trough, directly under the lower edge of its screen, pitches to one side of the machine and beyond the edge of the cloth, where each trough has a conductor tube 59 offset over the adjacent roller 26, and extending thence downward between end portions of the lower rollers 26, for guiding water from troughs 51 safely into pan 58.

Water collected in pan 58 may be re-circulated by utilizing the pan as the source of water from which pump 58 draws, the supply of water in the pan to be maintained adequate by a connection to any larger source of water such as a city main, under any well known automatic float valve control (not shown).

Referring to Figures 8-13, the water-guiding elements 60 each comprise a woven textile fabric which, preferably, will be terry cloth or turkish toweling of suitable texture. A sheet of this cloth, of predetermined area, conveniently may be prepared for mounting by folding each of its edge portions over upon itself as a hem, which may be stitched at 65 along the inturned edge to provide a loop of the cloth along each edge. Preferably a small rectangular piece of the cloth will be cut from each corner of the initial sheet, to facilitate the mentioned in-folding of edges without multiplying thicknesses of the stock at the corners. Figure shows an element 60 having its corners cut away as at 62, and having the remaining stock at each end in-folded to'provide the top looped edge 64, the side looped edges 66, 56 and the bottom looped edge 68. Also, in Figure 10, the element 59 is shown mounted on its supporting frame, which includes the spray pipe i9 extending through the top loop 64, the-side frame'bars l2, if, each extending through a side loop 556 and the bottom frame bar 14 which extends through the bottom loop 68. The upper end of each side bar 12, I2 is provided with a clamp 76 for suspension of the side bars from the spray pipe 10, with permissible adjustment along the pipe for maintaining desired lateral tautness of sheet on its mount.

The lower end of each side bar i2, 12 of the frame may have a series of holes 13 therein, for selective securement of the side bars, each to its respective end of the bottom bar 14, which likewise has a series of holes at each end for selection of lateral spread of the side bars. Thus any objectionable loosening of sheet 60 on its supporting frame, due to stretching of the cloth or to any otherreason, may be quickly and effectively corrected by simple relative adjustments of the frame pieces.

It is a feature of this structure that the distributed water sprays, issuing from each spray pipe '10, deliver between the fabric walls of a top loop-edge 64 with no possibility of splashing and with total elimination of the danger, from splashing water, of damage tomaterials being treated in the machine, which has been an ever-present problem in prior structures. Also this delivery of water into the interior groove of loop edge 6t tends to produce equal distribution of the water all along that groove, whence it courses down the element 60 as a uniform sheet of water whose fabric core is continually saturated.

In Figures 8 and 9 all of the spray pipes 10 are at the same level, and all are fed from a single manifold 18 mounted on the frame uprights i9, 19 at one side of the machine, and have their remote ends capped at ll and sup-ported by frame bar 81. With this uniformity of spray pipe arrangement there is incident uniformity of top' suspension of the water guides 60. But alternate ones of the elements 66 extend downward in the spaces between lower rollers 26, past said rollers, for direct delivery from their lower edges into the collecting pan, while the other elements 66 each terminate a little above and directly over one of the lower rollers 26, and each has a collecting trough 8B suspended on the lower frame bar M for collecting water from the lower edge of its element 63, whence the collected water is directed through spout 82 at one end, between rollers 26, into the pan below.

This water feed system of Figs. 8 and 9 operates within limits of local automatic control, in contrast to the system of Figs. 1-3 wherein the sprays discharge whatever water passes the intake con- 0 trol valve.

The system of Figs. 8 and 9 may employ an overflow device on the manifold 18 for keeping down. the spray pressure in case the spray pipes it should be unable to feed water to the screens 58 as fast'as it comes to the manifold. Such a device is shown at 85 and may comprise a chamber 88, conveniently made at that end of the manifold where the supply pipe 95 delivers, containing an overflow pipe 92 for by-passing the screens from a predetermined elevation in the chamber 88, an elevation preferably slightly above that at which water stands in the chamber under normal conditions of pressure and distribu-. tion of water. A part of chamber 88 may be of glass 99 so that the level of water in this local supply may be readily known.

I provide against condensation on the exterior surfaces of a trough 80 by covering the troughs with felt or the like, as at 84 in Figures 8, 10 and 11, thereby eliminating the danger of drops of moisture falling upon and damaging the material which is being treated.

Figures 12 and 13 show how the highly ab-' sorbent terry cloth fabric because of its long nap of uncut loops Hill of cotton can permit the flow and dissemination of water readily through the sheet from either side to the other, and over the area of the sheet so as to coalesce over the whole of each side, and also can hold large quantities of moisture on both of two relatively huge evaporating areas.

Figure 14 represents reenforced asbestos cloth which has high capillary qualities. Each thread 102 of this woven fabric has a fine wire I04, and has a yarn which may be composite of asbestos and cotton,thus constitutinga metallic screen structure wherein the spaces between wires are partly filled with absorbent threads of permanent character. 7 V

In use, the absorptive sheet A of cloth or other material is threaded through the machine over and under the respective rollers, 28, 22, 25, 30, to provide the spaced parallel vertical stretches, both sides of each are to be exposed in absorptive relation to the continuous sheets 'of water, with only a thin layer of atmosphere between. This initial threading of sheet A may be facilitated by providing an endlessrope at each side of the machine which continually may be threaded over and under rollers 28,26, 22 and 30 on the course which sheet A is to take. In Figure 2, the end portion of each roller is provided with an annular groove for accommodating such a rope, the ropes themselves being omitted in order not to confuse the disclosure of other and more essential features. Such ropes, being always threaded through the machine, constitute carriers to which the leading end of sheet A may be temporarily attached, for threading sheet A on its proper course.

, I claim as my invention:

1. A machine for conditioning long sheet material, comprising guiding means for coursing that material through vertical positions spaced side by side; stationary vertical liquid-carrying sheet elements interspersed between these course positions; and means: for supplying the liquid to an upper portion of each said sheet element; the said sheet elements being thin and amply porous for said liquid to pass freely through as a spreading, down-flowing, evaporating sheet of liquid for which a said sheet element constitutes a support facilitating local supply of liquid from either side of that sheet element to the other side there- 2. A machine for conditioning long sheet mate- 'rial, comprising means for guiding that material on a staggered course which includes a $110 cession of vertical positions spaced side by side; stationary vertical liquid-carrying sheet elements, pervious to the liquid, of which one is mounted in each space between the said vertical positions of material; and means for supplying the liquid to an upper portion of each said sheet element; alternate ones of said'sheet elements being above bends in the material and having troughs suspended from themselves for catching dripping liquid, and for guiding it clear of the said material.

3.. A machine for conditioning long sheet material, comprising means for guiding that matetrial through vertical positions spaced side by side; stationary vertical liqiuid-carrying sheet elements, pervious to the liquid, suspended and interspersed between these course positions, each said element having along its top edge a loop of material of a nature to intercept spray of liquid; and for each element, a pipe extending throughthe loop, with orifices for input of liquid thereto; the whole being arranged for the liquid from the loop to spread thence downward as an evaporating sheet of liquid for which said pervious'element constitutesa support freely permitting local supply to either face of the element from the other face thereof.

4. A machine for conditioning long sheet material, comprising means for guiding thatmaterial on a course which'h'as approximately vertical sections; sheets-of porous woven fabric suspended close beside said vertical sections of the course of the material, each saidsheet being hemmed at its top edge; a pipe extending within the hem, suspending the fabric and supplying a conditioning liquid; the inflow from said pipe being delivered within the hem, and thence coursing downward on said fabricas an evaporating sheet of liquid, with local supply from either side thereof to the other side thereof.

5. A machine for conditioning long sheet material, comprising means for guiding that material on a staggered course with approximately vertical sections, and bends at top and at bottom; sheets of woven porous fabric suspended close beside said vertical sections of the course of the material, each said sheet being, hemmed at'top and at bottom; an inflow pipe for conditioning liquid extending within and supporting the top hem; a stiff bar extending through the bottom hem; and troughs suspended from those of the fabric sheets which are over bands of the said sheet material, hung on the ends of said stiff bars to collect liquid drippingqfrom the bottom edges of the fabric sheets.

6. A machine for conditioning long sheet material, comprising means for guiding that material on a staggered course with approximately vertical sections, and bends at top and at bottom; sheets of woven porous fabric suspended close beside said vertical sections of the course of the material, each said sheet being hemmed at top, at

bottom and at both sides; an inflow pipe for course which has a series of vertical sections.

spaced side by side; a series of liquid-pervious thin .sheetelementseach hanging in the midst of a space between adjoining vertical sections of the sheet material; a manifold for liquid supply at one side of the frame at a level slightly above the top edgesof said sheet element; a series of pipes extending. in parallelism from the ,manifold across the frame, each pipe having distributed orifices: for supplying the liquid; and means' at the top edge of each sheet element for intercept ing spray that is moving directly toward contact with the sheet material, and guiding it to the sheet element.

RGBERT L. SJOSTROM. 

